RIP to a king.

even thought it's not really SHT season, I figured there's enough of a culture around here that I wouldn't be too much of an anomaly.

also if you haven't, why not?

I've had some interesting reax to this IRL, so I'm curious:

Have you hitchhiked in the U.S.?

I'm especially interested in answers that don't involve getting a ride because your car broke down. A/G/L if you're willing.

Happy Jaded, Faded, Faded, Jaded, Jaded Mandarin Season to all who celebrate!! 🙏

It's not just disliking a president. It's hearing him lie so badly and brazenly and dangerously while he and his cronies unravel systems and everyone tries to find comfort in small immediate things. It's hard to explain but man it's familiar.

To be clear, it's been coming back here and there over the last few years. But I tend not to listen to Trump live, and I did tonight, and felt like I should be sitting in the kitchen with a bottle of vodka, some bread and cheese, a pack of cigarettes. Maybe a guitar. Господи.

When I was living in Russia, I of course could never fully understand the cynicism and contempt people had for their leadership. But I witnessed it, and talked with people about it, and felt it at an angle as I lived among them, and holy shit is it all rushing back to me right now.

I too took a courageous unprecedented trip today

When I was little, I realized the moon was looking out for me by following me on night drives in the country.

The first time I touched the moon rock at the Air & Space Museum, I got the chills and had An Emotion.

It really is!

To repeat: No one has left low earth orbit since 1972. 1972! Nixon was president!

Apollo 11 in Real Time A real-time interactive journey through the first landing on the Moon. Relive every moment as it occurred in 1969.

Also if you, like me, find that listening to competent people doing their work is soothing, check this out

Felt that.

oh my god the engine gimbaling

Saturn V B-roll was EVERYWHERE in the 70s and 80s. I think of it any time I see a launch.

I was out there for maybe 10 minutes and it was striking how quickly I got philosophical -- like my presence was a challenge for drivers to indulge in some quick self-reflection about Who They Were, how it's good practice to let the universe move the way it will sometimes, etc.

I am...inconsistent between extreme caution and extreme recklessness when it comes to personal safety and I simply could not come up with a risk that outweighed the reward on this sunny pre-storm Wednesday. If Minnesota is going to pride itself on helping neighbors, I knew I could count on SOMEONE

It was so routine when I lived in Russia! It's not uncommon to see people do it around where I live now, and so I figured I might as well try it to get the four miles I needed to go. A+++++ would try again

I just hitchhiked in this country for the first time in my LIFE

MOO

Amazon Teamsters claim victory over retail supergiant's strike retaliation Amazon will honor workers' right to strike after a prolonged, multi-front pressure campaign from the union.

NEW from me: After major pressure from the Teamsters union both at the shop floor and in NLRB-mediated negotiations, Amazon has agreed to stop retaliating against workers for exercising their right to strike. "This is a huge win for us," shop floor organizer Josh Black said.

When I was little, I realized the moon was looking out for me by following me on night drives in the country.

The first time I touched the moon rock at the Air & Space Museum, I got the chills and had An Emotion.

🖤

It's a good one!

Marine biologists measuring the length of a narwhal next to the ore docks in Duluth

An ore boat comes under the Duluth lift bridge into the Duluth harbor, which is full of ice and a few narwhals.

The breakwall in Two Harbors, Minnesota, is covered with ice and extends into Lake Superior; several narwhals frolic offshore

This time every year, a friend of mine who works for the DNR shares pics from helping the National Underwater and Marine Agency track the narwhal migration along the North Shore.

A historic photo showing more than 15 kids on an Ocean Wave, a playground ride that consists of flat circle about 12 feet wide, made of wood or metal, suspended by ropes/wires from a pole in its center. The kids are standing on the circle and the ride rocks back and forth, oor you can spin it. There is plenty of opportunity to lose a finger or crush a leg while playing on it, or worse if you fall off and end up in side the circle while it's moving.

The playground in the town where my grandparents lived had an Ocean Wave and it was such a treat to play on it. It was similar to this photo but set a little higher off the ground and IIRC it had a bar all the way around so you could sit and essentially hold a lap bar. Deadly but so fun

More variety, fewer sharp edges (literal/figurative), harder now to get high up. Much more thoughtful construction: I will never forget the sound a kid made when he fell flat on his back/head off the pullup bars that were set in a concrete parking lot. WHO DID THAT??

Interior with a Dog

Interior with a Dog, 1934
https://botfrens.com/collections/48/contents/16870